


A Problem Shared (One Shot)

by PuddlesofPupcake



Category: Agent Carter (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-18
Updated: 2015-08-18
Packaged: 2018-04-15 09:35:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4601823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PuddlesofPupcake/pseuds/PuddlesofPupcake
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Peggy Carter has always been the most mysterious figure in Angie's life. But when she gets to the bottom of one of her many mysteries, it turns out secrets can hide scars.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Problem Shared (One Shot)

**Author's Note:**

> Just a little one shot I wrote on holiday!

Angie Martinelli had never been a woman who enjoyed a mystery. Whenever she first opened one of the sappy romance novels that were her absolute favourite she would always flick through the final chapter before reading the beginning, just to maintain an informed perspective on it all. Parting with an extra $5 to return to the movie theatre had always seemed worth it just to enjoy the movie again with the security of knowing that a happy ending awaited the characters. However, Angie had eventually found a mystery that she could tolerate in her life. Especially when it entered on those Broadway ready legs.

From the very first moment they met, it was very clear that Peggy Carter was mystery itself. All wrapped up very nicely, at least in Angie's opinion, in a sharp suit and a smear of scarlet lipstick.

* * *

"Hmmm, I think I'll take a slice of cherry pie and a cup of tea. Please."

Angie could still easily recall their very first interaction. Scribbling down the stranger's request in her tiny pocket notebook, she couldn't help but laugh at the woman's charming British accent. She also couldn't help noticing that the voice, and the person it belonged to, was undeniable attractive.

"Coming right up, English." The waitress replied with a teasing half grin.

Whether it was fate or simply the mind numbing fatigue at the end of a ten hour shift that cause Angie to allow the slice of cherry pie to slide off of the tray and into the customer's lap, it was definitely an effective conversation starter. During an occasional moment of reminiscing Peggy would always point out with a giggle that at the time Angie's face flushed the exact shade of the fruit in the pie.

Nobody that Angie knew of had ever dumped food on a stranger's clothing in an effort to make friends but after Peggy she would sure as hell be recommending it. From that day on, Peggy became a regular at the at the Automat. She would always manage to catch Angie right before her break which allowed at least twenty minutes of chatter, more if the cafe was quiet or Angie's boss wasn't around.

For both of them, these conversations became the highlight of their day. Within a month they privately considered each other their best friend, another three and they had become neighbours at the Griffith. Not that Peggy had ever been especially forthcoming with personal information throughout their friendship. It wasn't until the disturbing events with the S.S.R made it impossible to keep the secret that Angie found out that Peggy didn't exactly work at the telephone company. It took four months of living together in Howard's mansion and way too much Schnapps for it to become known that the older woman had interesting intentions of being much more than friendly roommates. The young waitress couldn't help but wonder how many more secrets were wrapped up in Peggy Carter.

* * *

Then of course, there was this mystery.

For the first five months of their relationship, Angie grew increasingly concerned about one odd aspect of her girlfriend's behaviour. The final conclusion of her worrying came on a very typical evening for the pair of them. Their minds were entirely separated, flung to different corners of the world by the books they buried their noses in. However, their bodies told a different story as they lay so close and tangled in Angie's bed that it was difficult to distinguish which limbs belonged to which woman. The routine remained the same each time. Peggy would begin to look sleepy and abruptly stand up.

"Wow Angie, I'm so behind on paperwork, you know how busy the boys at the office keep me. You don't want me here half the night writing and keeping you awake."

It was crappy lies like these that really made Angie wonder how Peggy had become a secret agent.

"You sure? It's only eleven o'clock, I really don't mind."

"It's okay." Peggy said, trying to conceal a yawn behind her hand, "It's not fair on you. Goodnight, darling."

"Night Peggy." Angie replied, not quite detecting the sharp edge to her tone until she had visibly cut Peggy with it. Good, she couldn't help think.

Angie had absolutely had it. What kind of a girl doesn't want to ever stay in her girlfriend's bed? Angie had repeatedly made it clear to Peggy that she had no ulterior motives, it was only sleep. The situation annoyed her but mainly it worried her, a lot more than she would ever care to admit. She stayed put for a while, wrestling with the ambiguous ethics of invading another woman's privacy. Eventually Angie's curious nature got the better of her. After all, she reasoned, it was for Peggy's sake. Right?

Darkness really had closed in quickly through the halls, Angie tended to avoid wandering through the house late at night. She crept along, silently cursing Peggy for choosing a room at the opposite end of the house to hers. She also couldn't help her mind racing at the thought of what she might find. Maybe Peggy was a werewolf? Maybe she was having a secret affair with Edwin Jarvis? Maybe she just wasn't that into her girlfriend? None of those options appealed to Angie. Except the first one,that could probably be a laugh. Angie shook off all of her weird thoughts and reached for the door knob, jumping back like she'd been electrocuted by the small yelp that came from inside the room.

"Peggy?" Angie called out, slightly surprised to hear a shakiness in her voice.

The sound of movement. Words muffled by the heavy door.

"Peggy?" Angie called again, making an effort to steady her words, "I'm coming in, okay?"

Angie tentatively pushed open the door, anxiety knotting in her chest at the thought of what waited in the room. There had to be another person, maybe a fight. She should've grabbed the baseball bat that Peggy insisted she kept under the bed. Thankfully, she found no intruder, although what she did see was definitely more troubling. Peggy lay sleeping on the bed, what should've been a peaceful scene. Disturbing the peace was the tossing and turning, the screams half muted by the bedding she was wrapped in, the choked repetition of two words. Steve. Sorry.

The younger woman stood in the doorway for a few moments before coming to her senses, rushing to flick on the lamp that stood beside the bed. Angie gently sat on the corner of her girlfriend's bed, gently shaking Peggy's shoulders firmly. 

"Peggy! It's just a dream, Peggy you're dreaming!" she repeated, whispering at first until it felt like she was in a screaming match with Peggy.

"English!" she plead, unsure of what she was actually supposed to do in this situation.

Peggy's eyes eventually snapped open,shining with something Angie had never discovered there before.Wild terror. As sobs began violently shaking her body she reached for Angie,clinging onto her as if she was the only thing anchoring her into a bearable reality. Angie instinctively wrapped her arms around Peggy,whispering words of comfort into her ear until they both calmed down. Truth is, Angie was terrified. In moments of panic and chaos she leaned heavily on her girlfriend as a crutch of strength and confidence. It was frightening the other way around.

Angie's 'it's just a dream' repetition had begun to properly sink into Peggy's mind. She shifted into a sitting position, still wrapped in her girlfriend's tight embrace.

"I know," Peggy said, the ghosts of sobs merely a string of gasps punctuating her words, "It was just so real. God, Ang, it's always so real."

Angie pulled her closer, as if they could become one. As if Angie could share some of Peggy's horrible burden. Of course she knew about Steve, even Peggy wouldn't keep Angie in the dark about past involvement with Captain America, but she didn't realise the scars ran this deep.

"I'm sorry." said a small flattened voice that would've been unrecognisable without the English accent, "I can't bear what you must think of me. Weak."

Angie couldn't respond for a second, shocked at Peggy's words. Her girlfriend, the woman who thought the entire world was an appropriate weight to carry on her shoulders, felt weak.

"For what? Having emotions? Being human after all? We've all lost someone."

Peggy snorted, "Do we all completely lose it every night?"

Angie glanced away from the older woman. "Took me years to get over Mikey."

Peggy reached for Angie's cheek, softly guiding her girlfriend's face back to look at her, some attempt at comforting Angie. "Mikey?"

"My cousin." Angie explained, blinking rapidly to destroy the familiar sad sting in her eyes. "Fell down a ravine when we were playing together as kids. He was only eleven. It took so long to stop seeing his face every single night. Reliving it all, hoping this time, any time it would be different. I wished I..."

She trailed off as Peggy absent mindedly cut in. "Could get it right that time. Save him. Make it all okay again."

Their hands found one another as they held onto each other tightly. Drifting back into sleep as two damaged souls, slowly starting to bandage each other's wounds. Peggy never chose to sleep alone again.


End file.
